Operative mechanism for steam presses



July 30, 1929- H. H. MCDERMOTT OPERATIVE MECHANlSM FOR STEAM IRESSES J 1924 3 Sheetrs-Sheet Original Filed Deo. 26

attorno July 3o, 1929. H,`H MCDEMQTT 1,722,638

OPERATIVE MECHANISM FOR STEAM PRESSES Original Filed Dec. 26, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 'Illlllllll/ July 30, 1929. H, H. McDERMoT-r 1,722,638

OPERATIVE MECHANISM FOR STEAM PRESSES Original Filed Deo. 26, 1924 5 Shee'lts-Sheex 3 nllgg-ff! Patent daily 3Q in...

at' .fg

e n met' w original appiieation alec necemii'er es, ieee, sei-mino. 758,121.

l as, 192e. serial no. ict

The present invention relates generally to pressing machines such as are used by dyeing and cleaning establishments by tailors and pressers, and by laundries for pressing garments, fabrics, etc. Q One of the objects of the` invention 1s to provide a pressing machine in which the pressing or ironing pressure on the textile or garment is secured by power'actuated means,-whereby the effort required to operate the machine is reduced to aminimum and whereby a much higher pressure can be appliedto the work than is possible to obtain through levers operated by foot or hand power. This greater pressure gives a better finish to the work and produces a more lasting press. e

Another object attained through the use of the above power actuating means is a greater rapidity of operation of the machine.

Another object of the invention is to utilize the exhaust steam from the heating chambers of the presser head and buck for the power operation of the machine.

Another object attained by my invention is the automatic regulation of the volume of heat supplied to the presser head and buck in accordance with the rapidity of operation of the machine.

Another objectl attained is the frequent withdrawal of condensation from the' heating chambers of the presser 'head and buck to the end of obtaining of the presser head and buck.

Another'object ofthe invention is to provide power operating means which can be built directly into the pressing machine in its original construction, or which can -be embodied in an attachment adapted for ready application to foot-operated pressing machines.

In the drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention: l

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing my invention embodied in the usual type of pressngkmachine 'comprising a presser head and Fig. 2 shows a fragmental front elevation,

` OTT, 0F ICGO, ELWOS,

z-:. (msn, is Y0 11:;

a more ecient heatingramon. ro THE asrrrv n oooriroii or new vor.

sm son seinem rnnss Divided and this application led .april LME ' Fig.. d is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken controllers.

Fig. 5 is a partial sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4 showing the trip latch arrangement.

Fig. 6 is a partial sectional view taken on line 6-6 of' Fig. 4 showing the clamp carrying the knock out roller and a portionof the yoke bracket.

Fig. 'Z is a vertical sectiontaken through a four way valve. e.

Fig. 8 is a cross section taken on line 8--8 of Fig 7, showing the ports.

through 'one of the telescoping K Fig. 9 is a vertical section through an operating cylinder and its heads.

Fig. 10 is a cross sectional view taken through the oil separator employed in the exhaust line from the operating cylinder.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of a lubricating device shown connected to a port of the inlet steam line leading to the operating cylinder.

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 4; of the other telescoping controller.

The press which may be considered as representative of conventional press construction, comprises a frame 10 having an upper.-

standard or arm 11 extending upwardly from in both, suppliedfwith steam through pipes' 119, 120. The lever 12 carries'a rear counterveight to balance the weight ofthe presser ead.

ythe rear of the frame for pivotally supporty ing the presser head lever 12. Pivotally A toggle lever consisting of a pair of toggle links 15 is pivotall'y secured to the balanced lever 12 at one end and to the frame 10 at the other end. The knuckle or pivot of said toggle has connection through a link 16 withone end of a lever 17, which is ulcrumed at 18 :to a cross brace of the frame for up and down rocking motion. A connecting rod 19 at the other end of lever 17 connects it pivotally with-a treadle lever 20 .which is pivotally secured to the frame-as atl 21. I To this treadle lever the device of the ment whereby -the exhaust steam discharged from the heating chambers of the presser head and buck is used in this power operation.

This power actuation is performed by a v cylinder 23 which is supported directly under the front table of the machine and whichA has operative connection with the treadle 20,

v. as I shall presently describe.

i between the presser head and buck. Acci- Ihe feature of control of ressing machlnes generally and its partlcular application to a pressing machine as herein charlacterized forms no part of the present in-I vention, and is the subject of Patent No. 1,587,078, dated June 1, 1926, of which the present application is a division. These control'eatures will be described in the following, however, in suiiicient detail for a complete understanding o the invention.

Two controllers 24 and 25 are provided to control inlet of steam to the ends of the cylinder' 23, these controllers being so related that both must bey forcedl down simultaneously or steam will not be admitted to the cylinder 23 to bring the head and buck together. This compels the use of both hands on the controllers and consequently there is no possibility of having one hand caught dents caused through the carelessness of the operator in-getting his or her hands injured between the head and the buck are thus positively avoided.

The cylinder 23 illustrated in Fig 9 is of the conventional-type, closed at the top and bottom by cylinder head 26 and 27 respectively, each having internall threaded orts. The upper head is provlded with a ug 28 havingl a transverse bore therein to receive a pivot bolt for securin it pivotally on a bracket 29 secured Vto t e frame 10v by means'of bolts 30 (Fig. The lower cylinder head is provided with packing and a stuilng box 31 tov prevent escape of steam from the cylinder which has a reciprocating'piston 32 mounted therein. Piston rings 33. are provided in said piston-and a piston rod 34,secued thereto extends downwardl and has a yoke 35 secured to its4 end.

connecting joint 36 is pivotally mounted on said yoke, and has pivotal connection with aclamp 37 fixedly secured to the treadle lever 20, thus forming a universal joint to connect the -press operatively with the cylinder.

In Fig. 7 is showna longitudinal section of a four way valve 38'in which a housing 38 is provided with four tapped openings or `ports A, B, Gand D, best indicated in Fig.

8. A tapered valve stem 39 having cut away portions for placing these openings A, B, C andvD, in communication with each other, is rotatably fitted within said housing and held yieldingly in place by a compression spring 40 surrounding a portion of the stem of reduced diameter and held in place by a threaded cap 41 engaging the internal threads of the housing 38.

Integral with said cap is a yoke 42 having a tapped opening 43 at its upper end through which a'headless set screw 44, having a lock nut y44 extends for engaging the top of the reduced portion oflthe valve stem 39, to providefor its adjustment. The other end 45 of said valve stem is of polygonal cross section to receive a valve lever-46, shownin The port A of the valve housing has connection with the source of steam supply,`

and the buck 14 (thereby utilizing the waste 1 steam from' these chambers). The port B v connectsto the bottom of the operating cylinder 23 for forcing the piston upwardly in opening the press and the port D connects tothe top of the operating cylinder for forcing the piston downwardly in closing the press. The port C connects to exhaust. In.

connecting the port D to the top of the cylinder 23, a nipple 47 shown in Figs. 3, 8 and 9 leads directly from the opening D into the upper cylinder head 26. In connectingv the port B to the bottom of the cylinder a conduit 48 leads from the port and connects through an elbow 49 with a pipe 50 (Fig. 2). This pipe in turn connects through an elbow 51 and detachable union connection 52 with the inlet port opening into-the bottom of the cylinder through the l lower cylinder head 27.

A yoke bracket 53 illustrated in Fig. 3A

has openings 54 that register with openings in lugs on the cylinder heads 26 and 27..

Bolts 55-extend through both cylinder heads and through the yoke bracket 53 and are provided with nuts at both endswhich hold the cylinder heads in place on the cylinder and -the cylinder 23 firmly secured to said yoke bracket 53. This bracket terminates in ears v56 having horizontal bores `therein v to carry brackets 59, 59 which in turn support the twol depressible controllers 24 and 25. A table or apron 139 is supported below the buck 14 for supporting the garments or fabrics, andv these two controllers are supported at the front edge of this table.

62. At the top of each bracket 59, 595 yaY guide boss 63 slidably receivesa tube 64 havi f' ing a circular handle 64 formed at its upper end. rllhe other end of this tube 64 is threaded and has secured to this threaded ,portion a clamp v65 formed with a downnwardly extending' arm 66 having a transverse horizontal bore in its bifurcated lower Aend which carries a knock-out roller 66.

A lower boss 67 on the bracket casting 59 has a. tapped counter bore 67' into which threads the lower end of a second or inner tube 68, which has outer tube 64.

It will-be observed from Figs. 4 and 12 a snug sliding tit in the' that the back walls of the channel portionsof the brackets 59, 59 are cut away at their lower ends to receive trip latch levers 69. As shown in Fig. 5 these trip latch levers are pivoted on pivot pins 130 which have their ends mounted in the side walls of the brackets 59. The rearwardly projecting ends 69 of the two latch levershave bosses in which are secured, as by set screws, the. ends of a horizontal rod or shaft 131.l rlhis shaft rises and falls with the up and down swinging movement of the latch levers, but com- `pels the two latchlevers to move together.

Under the weight of this shaft the lower latching noses 132 of the two levers normally swing in and bear against vertical latch rods which I shall presently describe. lThe latch lever for the right hand control 25 has an upward extension 133 having a cam surface 134 on its upper end, anda notched-out recess 135 atits lower end.

Associated with this right hand control 25 ist a latching or releasing'rod 70 which extends through bores of reduced diameter in the head 64 of the tube 64 and in the boss 67 of the bracket 59. The upper end of this rod carries the operating knob or handle 71. At a predetermined point in the length of the rod 70' is formed an annular groove or notch 72 having a substantially square lower shoulder forengagement by the nose '130 of the latch lever, as I shall presently describe. The lower .end of said rod is threaded for a relatively long distance and carries a ber A" 3 adapted to strike the bottom of the boss 67 to limit the upward movement of the rod. A. ber washer 74 and a felt washer 75 'areinterposed between said buer and boss 67, to reduce the shock and make the device quiet in operation. A lock nut 76 holds the bulier 73 in the' desired adjusted position.

. vA long compression Vspring 77 surrounds t-he releasing rod and is conlined between a collar 78. secured thereto and the boss 67,

vbracket 59 identical with channel bracket 59 except the wing 61 extends from the opposite side of the channel portion for mounting the bracket on the other side of the machine.

Extending upwardly from a tapped counter bore in lower boss 81 ofthe bracket 59 is a guiding tube 82, similar to the tube 68, provided to slidingly guide the outer tube 83 which reciprocates in a bore in upper boss 80. A rod 84, similar to 'latch rod 70, extends from a handle 85, secured to this outer tube, down through a bore of reduced diameter in the lower boss 81 and supports a bulier 86 in the same manner as the other control element 25, vhaving a shock absorbing felt washer 87 and a iiber washer 88 interposed between said buder and lower boss. A lock nut 89 holds the buer in adj usted position in the same manner as in its companion controller. An annular notch 90 is provided in the rod 84 lin a manner similar to and insubstantially the same horizontal plane asin its companion rod.\ A spring 91 surrounds rod 84 and is interposed between the handle 85 of the outer tube and the lower boss 81 to normally hold the outer tube and the rod in extended position.l

Supported on the lower threadedends of the ,two rods 70 are adjustable clevises 01" brackets 92 and 93', these being held between lock nuts for adjustment. Extending across lthe front of the machine and pivotally supported inv these members is a. cross-bar or lever 94 which functions analogously to a whippletree. Pivotally connected to the center of this cross lever is a link 95 which makes pivotal connection at its upper end to thehvalve operating lever 46 (Fior. 2). With both controls 24 and. 25 inlt eir normal .upper positions this cross leverwill assume los the full line position of Fig. 2 for one posie tion of the four way valve. This position of chine will be described at ter 'employ gag after describing the steam connectionsmore the exhaust line connection from the buck 14 to the yinlet lport A of the four way valve. Theexhaust steam leaving the buck passes downwardly through a pipe line 96 (Fig. 1)

" connecting witha horizontal' line 118 'by means of a T 97 interposed therein. This horizontal line 118 is a manifold or common supply line into which both the presser head and the buck exhaust. Interposed in D `this manifold line 118 is a T 98 which may have connection .through pipe 99 with a lubricator 100 of any desired type,J such a .lubricatorfbeing illustrated in Fig. 11. A

plug cock 100y mayalso be interposed in the manifold line '118-'to regulate the amountof steam allowed to `pass through theiline to the four way valve. An elbow 101 on the end of the manifold line 118 connects with one end of a nipple 102, having an upwardly directed elbow 103`atits other end. A short length of pipe 104 (Fig..1) projects vertically therefrom and makes vconnection `with an inwardly ,directedv elbow 105 (Fi 3) from which a short pipe 106 extends orizontally and Vmakes connectionwith a downwardly facing elbow 107. Leading from this lattervelb'ow is a short .pipe 108 (Fig. 8) whichconnects with the top or inlet port A v of the four way`valve 38.

Referring now to the connections by which v'the exhaust steam coming from the presser head 13 is conducted lto the manifold line 118, it will be observed from Fig. 1 that an outlet pipe 109 yleading from the heating chamber of the presser head connects with a laterally turned elbow 110.v This elbow is in turn connectedto a rearwardly directed elbow 111 which is connected with another inwardly directed Ielbow 112 by means of nipples 113 and a connecting union. Connecting with the inner end of elbow 112 is any suitable type of swivel joint 115 which is aligned with the pivotal axis of the presser head lever l2 to accommodate the pivotal movement of the 'presser head. A pipe 116 i y extends downwaidly fromsaid swing joint and has a forwardly directed "elbow connecting through pipe 117 which in turn connects to the T 97 communicating with mani- 'head and the buck is conducted to the fold line 118. Thus the exhaust steam from the heating chambers of both the. presser port A of thel four way valve 38..

From the exhaust port C or bottomend of the four way valve a pi e 121 extends downwardly (Figs. '2 and 8 to which an outwardly directed elbow 122 is secured'. Leading from"this 'elbow isa pipe 123 connecting through a rearwardly directed elbow 123 (Fig-1) with a pipe 124 containing a check valve 124. A continuation of the pipe 123 connects the check valve w1th -an oil separatpr 125, and another hne 127, leads from said oil separator into the atmosphere or where ever itis desired to direct this exhaust steam for ,otheruses.

Fig. 10 illustrates this construction'of oil` separator '125. The steam entering from pipe 123 is deflected downwardly by the bafie 128 of channel section, where it expands into the relativelylarge volume of the sepa-v rator chamber. Here theoil particles are precipitated, after whichthe exhaust steam is conducted away through the outlet lpipe 127 To bring thehead 13 down into engagement with the buck 14 steam mustbe admitted to thetop of the piston 32tlrough port D leading from the four way valve 38 To accomplish this the operator presses down simultaneously on both telescoping controllers 24 and 25, thus moving both ends of the cross bar or whippletree 94 downwardly until it assumes the horizontal position shown in the dotted lines in Fig. 2.

This operates through the link v to move the rotary element of the four Way Valve through its required movement vto admit steam to the top of the cylinder. As the telescoping controllers are forced down the 'outer tubes 64 and 83 telescope over the guides 68 and 82 and the knock out roller 66 on clamp 65 engages the upwardly projecting cam end 134 on the trip Amember 69 causing its nose I132 to move outwardly until the roller reaches the cut back portion 135. The latch then` drops under the action .of gravity bringing the nose 132 into engagement with the annular notch 72 in rod 70. Since both trip levers 69 are joined by the connecting bar 131 this r'esults in the .opposite controller 24 being also latched in down position.

If either of the telescoping controllers are pushed down separately, as for example the controller 25, the cross bar 94takes the angularv position shown in the 'intermediate dotted line position in Fig. 2 bringing the valve into neutral position thus preventing the piston from moving and consequently the head from operating. In this position the trip levers will not catch nor lock the head down for the reason that they are so connected as to act only in unison; therefore, it will be necessary for the operator to use both. hands simultaneously to bring the head down, and,f to bring the annular grooves in rods 70 and 84 in horizontal trip latches to engage therewith. This also prevents one of the controllers beingl 'I pushed down part way and then released.

lmock out roller 66.

In this bottom horizontal position of the cross bar 94 the port D is open and admits steam to the top of the piston, from the heatf ing chambers in the presser head and buck, and simultaneously therewith places the port B in communication with the exhaust port C so that the steam remaining in the lower end of the cylinder can be exhausted.

To raisethe head from the buck. 14, the right hand control 25 is grasped and the two knobs or handles 64: and 71 are ,squeezed together. The handle 71 and its r'od 70 being down to substantially the bottom of its stroke, this squeezing raises the bottom handle 64' and through it the sleeve 64: and

The upward' movementof the knock out roller raises it out of the notched out portion 135 and cams the upper end 133 of the trip llatch lever forwardly to release the nose 132 from the notch 72. This movement also occurs at the latch lever for the outer controller through the rod 131, and consequently both controllers are simultaneously released. The resulting upward movement 'of the cross bar 94 under the action of the springs 77 and 91 returns the four Way valve to its former position again and connects the port B to the presser head and buck for admitting steam to the bottom of the cylinder and connects the upper endof the cylinder to exhaust. The resulting yupward movement of the piston raises' the presser head to its elevated position .The

' machine is then in its -original starting po- Vsition. The springs 22 tend to hold the head in this elevated position.

1t will be noted that the power actuatingv means for the presser lhead utilizes the exhaust steam from the heating chests of the presser head and buck and in this sense is of economical operation as itutilizes heat units which would otherwise be lost.4 It

eration of the presser head automatically governs the rate of steam circulation through the heating chests of the machine i. e. as the presser head is operated more rapidly a greater amount ofheat must be supplied to the head and to the buck to compensate for the greater volume of heat absorbed by the increased number of garments pressed and this is automatically taken care of by the increased rate of. steam flow through the heating chests to the operating cylinder. The periodic withdrawal of steam from these heating chests to the operating cylinder tends to remove the chilled steam from the chests and minimize lcondensation therein.

I do not intend to be'limited to the particular details herein shown and described, as itwillvbe obvious that the foregoing is merely an exemplary embodiment of invention.

I claim: l

In a press having a heated head and a heated buck, a press foot lever for actuating said head, a cylinder having a reciprocating piston connected to said press foot lever, and means for alternately admitting steam to the opposite ends of said cylinder from a pipe line leading from said buck and head for operating the press and cylinder,

and oil'separating means on saidpipe line.

.In testimony whereof 1 aiiix my signature at 10 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois. e

, f i, RY H. MGDERMOTT. 

